ABSTRACT
The Russians have been particularly enthusiastic and tenacious in pursuing early, sporadic results to develop radiation stimulation on a commercial scale. Acceptance of radiation as one agent in hormesis allows data that are otherwise anomalous to fit a general biologic law and provides a rationale for systematic exploration of radiation hormesis for useful purposes. At the same time, radiation stimulation gives confirmation to the general thesis of hormesis. Gamma rays are much used in medicine and agriculture. Therapeutic doses of gamma rays are massive compared to normal background or the exposure of nuclear energy workers and inhabitants living in areas associated with the nuclear industry. The most reproducible work with radiation hormesis is the use of propagated strawberry rhizomes by the group at Hannover Technical University Department of Radiation Botany.
